


Piece of the World

by Chichirinoda



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-28
Updated: 2008-07-28
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lenalee can't leave Kanda behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Piece of the World

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/kinkfest/profile)[**kinkfest**](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/kinkfest/), for the prompt: D.Gray-Man - Kanda/Lenali - androgyny - half a moment to lick our wounds.

Lenalee wanted to run, but the jolts of pain that spiralled up her legs with every step forced her to face the fact that she just couldn't. She limped instead, dragging herself along with a hand on the wall, struggling to reach the end of the corridor and the door she hoped - no _knew_ \- would be there.

Not a doorway forward, a doorway back. When the Noah had attacked again, dropping down a wall to try to trap them, Lenalee had been separated from the rest. Unable to reach the others, she had turned back. At least, perhaps, she could help Kanda in some way. Even if all she did was cheer him on, which seemed like the best she was capable of doing these days.

The corridor had seemed pretty long when Chaoji was carrying her. Now it was an eternity of pain that just went on and on. But it would be just as bad to go back. Repeating the agony of this hellish trek only to be blocked at the end once again? She just couldn't face that.

When it seemed she just couldn't go another step, she stumbled around a corner and finally spotted the door ahead.

 _It's still intact!_ Lenalee thought exaltedly. _Kanda's okay!_ Somehow, the sight allowed her to tap some heretofore unknown resource and she limped the last few metres at a reasonable pace, pulling the door open and stepping through.

The room had looked like a rocky wasteland when they left. Now it looked like the site of a war.

Though the kneeling figure of the Noah drew her eye immediately, it took her only a moment longer to spot Kanda. He staggered towards her through the snow, leaning on Mugen like a walking staff. It was obvious that he hadn't noticed her, and from the shocking state of him, it was clear why. His shirt was gone, ripped to shreds from the looks of it, and he was obviously utterly exhausted. But he was too far away for her to spot any wounds.

She started towards him, opening her mouth to call out, but a soft sound caught her attention. It seemed to catch Kanda's notice as well, as he turned to look back at the Noah, who wasn't as defeated as either of them thought.

As lightning erupted from the Noah, Lenalee dove for cover.

The battle was as fierce as anything that Lenalee had ever seen. She knelt behind a rock and peered out in horror as Kanda literally drove himself to the brink of death and beyond to destroy the Noah, who seemed in turn to have gone completely mad.

Somewhere in the midst of it their escape route collapsed into a pile of rubble as the room began to shudder and break apart.

Mugen's destruction brought tears spilling over her cheeks. There was nothing she could do but clasp her hands to her heart and pray until the whole thing was over in a shower of dust. The Noah's suddenly empty clothing collapsed to the ground and Kanda soon followed. The ground was still shaking violently and cracks ran crazily all over. Huge chunks of the floor fell away into an abyss that Lenalee could imagine more than see from her vantage point.

The sight, and the realization that Kanda might soon follow over the brink, got Lenalee moving again.

Fear sent her heart into her throat and gave her legs new life as she sprinted towards him. She could barely feel the pain of her abused legs, and dismissed what she did feel - she simply didn't have the chance to hold back.

"Kanda!" she exclaimed, skidding in the slick, cold snow and coming to a halt right beside him. He didn't respond immediately, but twitched when she touched his shoulder, his head jerking up to meet her eyes.

"Lenalee...what--?"

"Come on!" she exclaimed. He surged upwards in response to her urging, and would have fallen if it weren't for her arm around his waist. They stumbled together away from the yawning abyss, but where was there to go? This whole room was going to destroy itself, and there was no escape.

Still, animal instinct said to run, and animal instinct was almost all the two Exorcists had left.

Even as they staggered past the collapsed ruins of the door, moving ever uphill in a losing battle to outrun the destruction, Kanda still clutched Mugen's hilt tightly in his hand, as if unable or unwilling to lose that last intact shard of his Innocence.

They weaved between tall spires of rock until they reached a dead end, and finally there was simply nowhere else to go. The rumbling was still fierce, but a bit more distant, and they dropped down to the rough ground, their chests heaving. Kanda was even paler than she remembered, though the lines around his eyes had vanished and the tattoo on his chest seemed to have gotten less elaborate as well. Lenalee was far too confused and distraught to question the why and wherefore of that tattoo.

"Are you really here?" Kanda rasped, turning to lean back against a rock and tilting his head back. Hair pooled around him, falling over his chest like water and almost into his lap.

Kneeling beside him, Lenalee was stuck by how delicate he looked, even though she knew he had strength far harder than steel. His body was covered in burns, and she could clearly count his ribs. The marks of Skin Boric's fingers stood out clearly in red on Kanda's throat.

Swallowing hard, Lenalee shifted to sit beside him, scrunching up close as the cold kiss of snow touched their skin. In the distance, she heard another rumble as another section of the room fell away. They had only minutes, and then...then...

...she didn't know what was going to happen then.

"I'm real, Kanda," she said softly.

Kanda opened his eyes and looked down at her. She wasn't surprised to see consternation and even anger in his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I was cut off from the others," she explained. "I decided to come back and see if I could help you."

"Then you just doomed yourself to die with me."

"I know." The words were a quiet whisper. She heard the acceptance in her own voice, and something eased in her heart that had been wound tighter than a spring.

Slowly, almost grudgingly, Kanda slipped an arm around her. She felt the rags of his shirt shifting against her back, and Mugen's hilt cold against her hip. He was still holding it.

"...Sorry," he muttered.

Shocked, Lenalee looked up at Kanda. He was staring off into the middle distance, and from here, with her head against his shoulder, it was hard to read his expression. As if were ever easy. "Whatever for?"

"Breaking my promise."

She looked down again quickly as her eyes filled with tears. This time, she was able to blink them away easily, though. There was strange sort of peace flowing through her, and she let herself rest comfortably against Kanda's chest, though she tried to avoid the worst of the burned patches.

"It's all right," she said.

They'd just have to trust that the others would see this through to the end. And perhaps they'd meet them again someday, in a better place.

With nothing more to say, they rested together, the two of them, and waited for their little piece of the world to end.


End file.
